Method of making pile fabric



sept. 23, 195s Filed OGl'.. 20. 1954 C.. C. MINCHER ETAL METHOD OFMAKING PILE FABRIC 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept 23, 1958 c. c. MINCHER ET AL2,853,103

METHOD oF MAKING PILE FABRIC 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 20, 1954 Sept.23, 1958 Filed 001;. 20. 1954 c. c. MlNcHER ETAL 2,853,103

METHOD OF' MAKING PILE FABRIC 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept 23, 1958 c. MINCHERET A1. 2,853,103

METHOD OF' MAKING PILE FABRIC 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 20. 1954United States Patent METHOD OF MAKING PILE FABRIC Clarence C. Mincher,Philadelphia, and Paul A. Endriss,

Norwood, Pa., assignors to Hardwick & Magee Cornpany, Philadelphia, Pa.,a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 20, 1954, Serial No.463,484

7 Claims. (Cl. 139-39) This application is a continuation-impart of ourcopending application, Serial Number 248,572, filed September 27, 1951,now abandoned, for improvements in a Pile Fabric.

The present invention relates to pile fabrics of the type commonlyemployed in the manufacture of carpet and rugs and to a novel method formaking such fabrics.

The weave of the present invention is of the same general type as theold and well-known Wilton weave, which is fully disclosed in UnitedStates Patents Numbers 760,985 and 760,986. In the Wilton weave astutter, which is included as a part of the warp, is located between theupper and lower layers of the filling which comprises the weft. The warpalso includes the binders which are woven in with thefilling and thepile yarns which provide the short pile loops and the long pile loops.`Generally speaking, the long pile loops assume a raised positionrelative to lthe ground, and provide a desired decorative pattern. Onefeature which characterizes the old Wilton weave is that the short pileloops are bound in under every pick of the upper lilling layer. Thismeans that there is an open space above the picks of the upper llinglayer, except for those portions which are covered by the long pileloops.

With the foregoing in mind, the present invention has in view as itsforemost objective the provision of a pile fabric weave of the typeindicated wherein the normally open spaces above the upper lling layerare covered. To accomplish this, two or more sets of warp yarns are usedwhich are selectively raised to pass over one or more pile wires forproducing ground pile loops and raised extended pile loops,respectively, and are floated above the picks of the upper filling layerso as to leave no open spaces, The present disclosure will be describedin terms of three sets of warp yarns; however, it is to be understoodthat the invention is not to be limited to such an embodiment. j

More specifically, in the present invention, two of the warp yarns areselectively raised so as to alternately pass over alternate single pilewires and picks of the upper filling layer and are bound in underadjacent picks of said upper layer providing the ground pile loops ofthe fabric. The third warp yarn is selectively raised to pass over twoor more pile wires so as to provide a pile loop of greater extent, thesaid third warp being floated beneath the picks of the upper fillinglayer when not selected. Ordinarily, when the two warp yarns forming theground pile loops are not selected, they are floated beneath the picksof the upper filling layer or are bound in to the back of the fabric,providing undesirable open spaces on the face of the fabric. tion, theraising and lowering of these yarns is controlled s o` that each of thetwo warp yarns when not selected is floated over alternate picks of theupper filling layer and bound in or floated underneath adjacent picks ofthe upper layer. In this manner, the open spaces in the face of the pilefabric 'are covered at all times notwith- By the present inven-l ice 2standing the fact that the two warp yarns have not been selected forforming ground pile loops.

It is to be noted that the selection of the individual warp yarns forforming the pile loops is carried out by the conventional jacquardmechanism, although the controlling of the raising and lowering of thewarp yarns so as to float over the picks of the upper filling layer lieswithin the purview of the present invention.

The invention therefore comprises a pile fabric fabricated in a novelmanner so as to provide a weave consisting of a weft made up of twolayers of picks constituting an upper filling layer and a lower fillinglayer, and a warp comprising a stuifer interposed between the fillinglayers with binders passing over alternate picksof the upper and lowerlayers, a pair of ground pile warps forming ground pile loops and floatsover the picks of the upper filling layer, and a third pile warpproviding extended pile loops.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following description and accompanying drawingswherein similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

Figure 1 is a View, largely diagrammatic, taken as a longitudinalsection through a pile fabric that is Woven in accordance with theprecepts of this invention, showing the wires in position and thevarious yarns distended.

Figure 2 is another diagrammatic view taken as a section through thefabric on the loom where the reed is located, and bringing out one stepof the weaving opera-l relative position of the elements after the reedhas beat up the shot of Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the formation of the shedfor shooting the next pick of the lower lling layer.

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic View showing the shot of,

Fig. 7 beaten up.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the forma` tion of the shedfor shooting a wire and the next pick of the upper filling layer. It isthis shot which is represented as being beaten up in Fig. 2.

Figure 10 is a longitudinal section through a fabric made in accordancewith the method of the present invention, illustrating a compositeportion of the fabric having ground pile loops, raised extended pileloops, and floats over the picks of the upper filling layer eliminatingopen spaces in the face of the fabric.

Figure ll is aschematic diagram showing a conventional jacquardmechanism for producing a fabric of the Wilton weave type, andillustrating the arrangement of the hooks and heddles and the threadingof the yarn ends therethrough for carrying out the present method.

Figure l2 is a schematic diagram similar to Fig. 11, but showing thejacquard as selecting the hook and heddle for producing a pile loop overa pile wire.

' Figure 13 is a schematic diagram similar to Fig. l2, but showing thejacquard as selecting the hook and heddle for producing floats over thepicks of the upper lling layer.

Figure 14 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the relative positions ofthe lash and grate of the jacquard, the

Patented Sept. 23, 1958 piif't bf indexing by the present method, andthe heights to which the y'arn ends are raised for producing pile loopsand oats above the picks of the upper filling layer.

Referring now to the drawings, and first more particularly to Fig. 10,the weave embodied in the pile fabric made by the method of the presentinvention is illustrated 'as consisting of a warp and a weft. The weftis mad'e up of a lower layer of filling represented by the picks and anupper layer of filling represented by the picks 11. Between these twolayers of lling there is interposed a stuffer 12, which is a part of thewarp.

Interwoven with the upper and lower layers of the filling are binders 13and 14. It will be noted that the binder 1-3 passes 'on the outside ofalternate picks 10 and 11, and this is also true of the binder 14, withthe latter passing on the outer side of those picks between those whichare encompassed by the binder 13.

The warp also includes a pair of ground pile warps represented at 15 and16, respectively. Each of these ground pile warps provides short groundpile loops and floats over the upper filling layer to cover the openspaces between picks, the ground pile warp 15 being bound in underalternate picks 11 of the upper filling layer with the ground pile warp16 being bound in under the remaining alternate picks 11. With thisarrangement there is a loop of either one of the ground pile warps 15and 16 over every pick 11 of the upper filling layer so as to eliminateany open spaces in the face of the fabric; and when the said warps havenot been selected by the jacquard for loops, the fioating thereof overthe picks 11 further eliminates open spaces in the face of the fabric.

A third pile warp 17 provides the long extended pile loops 18. Each ofthese extended pile loops 18 is selectively controlled by the jacquardto pass over two or more wires 19, as illustrated in Fig. l, presentinga raised pattern effect when the wires are removed. Actually, the loops18 stand higher than the ground pile loops 15 and 16 due to the greaterlength of yarn in the loop between the picks 11 that bind it in, ascompared with the loops 15 and 16.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 9, inclusive, a complete cycle of operationin the weaving of the pile fabric described above is shown. In thesefigures, the table of the loom is represented at and the reed at 21.Figure 2 shows the relative positions of the several yarns after thereed 21 has beat up the pick. 11, of the upper filling layer, and thewire 19 under the ground pile warp 16 and extended pile warp 17.

In the next phase of the operation, shown in Fig. 3, the binder warp 13is lowered so as to form a lower shed for receiving the shot of the pick10 in the lower filling layer. It will be noted that the lower side ofthe shed is formed by the binder 13 alone, while the upper side isformed by the stuffer 12, ground pile warp 15, binder warp 14, groundpile warp 16, and extended pile warp 17.

With the binder warp 13 thus lowered, the pick 10 is shot in the lowershed formed thereby, whereupon the reed 21 beats up the said pick so asto lie below the pick 11 of the upper filling layer, as shown in Fig. 4.

Next, the ground pile warp 15 and extended pile warp 17 are selectivelyraised by the jacquard in readiness for insertion of the pile wire 19therebeneath, the ground pile warp 16, binder warp 14, and stuffer 12being lowered to form a lower shed for receiving the shot of pick 11 ofthe upper filling layer, as shown in Fig. 5. The pile wire 19 and pick11 are inserted almost simultaneously and are beat up by the reed 21, asshown in Fig. 6, the ground pile warp 15 passing over a single wire 19and the extended pile yarn 17 passing over a second consecutive wire soas to form a long extended loop 1S.

The reed 21 is next retracted and the binder warp 14 lowered to form alower shed for receiving the shot of pick 10 of the lower filling layer,as shown in Fig. 7,

whereupon the reed again beats up the pick 10 so as to lie below thepick 11 as in Fig. 8.

In the next phase of the operation, shown in Fig. 9, the extended pileyarn 17 which has formed a long pile loop 18 is floated beneath thepicks 11 of the upper filling layer. To accomplish this, the pile yarn17 is lowered, together with the ground pile warp 15, binder warp 13,and stuffer 12, forming a lower shed for receiving the shot of pick 11;and the ground pile warp 16 is selectively raised to form an upper shedfor receiving the wire 19. Thus, when the reed 21 beats up the shot ofpick 11 and the wire 19, the pile yarn 17 will float beneath the pick 11and will remain in such position until again selectively raised by thejacquard.

With the pile yarn 17 thus floated beneath the picks 11 of the upperfilling layer, it may be desirable to eliminate some of the ground pileloops of the ground pile warps 15 and 16 to produce a decorativepattern. At the same time it is desirable to float these warps 15 and 16above the picks 11 of the upper filling layer, at locations spaced fromthe showing of Fig. 10, so as to eliminate open spaces in the face ofthe fabric. This is accomplished by a selective raising of the yarns toa controlled height above the table 20 of the loom, so as to pass abovethe picks 11 but under the wires 19. The means by which a given yarn endmay be made to form a pile loop or to float above the picks of the upperfilling layer is depicted schematically in Figs. l1 to 14, inclusive.

Referring to Fig- 11, a conventional jacquard is shown schematicallytherein as including a cylinder 22', index cards 23, needles 24, griffelements 25, pile hooks 26, pile heddles 27, oat hooks 28, and floatheddles 29. Each of the heddles 27 and 29 has an eye 30 and an elongatedloop 31. The griff elements 25 are those parts of the jacquard whichengage the hooks to raise the griff. A yarn end 32 is shown as beingthreaded through the eye 30 of the heddle 27 and through the loop 31 ofthe heddle 29. In Fig. 11, the hooks 26 and 28 are shown in positionover the griff elements 25 prior to selection by the index card andcylinder 22. It will be noted that the cylinder 22 is out of engagementwith the card 23. A portion of fabric F is shown with the yarn end 32passing over pile wires 33 and under picks 34 of the upper fillinglayer.

In forming a pile loop, the cylinder 22 moves transversely in thedirection shown by the arrow in Fig. 12 so as to contact the index card23 and move said card transversely also. To select hooks 26 and 28 forforming pile loops, the card 23 is provided with apertures which permitthe needles 24 which control the said hooks to pass therethrough so asto be unaffected by the transverse movement of the cylinder and indexcard. The hooks 26 and 2S thus remain seated upon the griff elements 25.As the griff elements rise, the hook 26 and heddle 27, and the hook 28and heddle 29, will be lifted as shown in Fig. l2. It will be noted thatthe eye 30 of the heddle 27 through which the yarn 32 is threaded iseffective in raising the said yarn to a position to permit the passageof a wire 33 therebeneath for forming a pile loop. The elongated loop 31of the raised float heddle 29, meanwhile, has no effect on the yarn end32 since the said yarn end merely slides freely within said loop, asshown. After a pile wire 33 is inserted beneath the thus-raised yarn end32, the griff elements 25 are lowered and the cylinder 22 moved out ofengagement with the index card 23 in readiness for receiving the nextcard for forming a pile loop or float over the upper filling layer, asthe case may be.

In forming these floats, the index card now selects the float hooks 28,as shown in Fig. 13, exerting a pressure against the needle 24 attachedto the pile hook 26 so as to unseat said hook from above the griffelement 25.

Then, as the griff elements 25 rise, the float hook 28 and heddle 29will be lifted with it, raising the yarn end 32 in its upward travel,while the pile hook 26 and heddle 27 will drop downwardly. But it willbe noted from Fig. 13,

thatthe yarn end 32 does not rise to as great a height as it did whenlifted by the pile hook 26 and heddle 27. This is because the said yarnend passes through the large elongated opening of the loop 31 of saidheddle, so that the yarn does not begin to risc until the bottom of theloop 31 contacts the yarn. Thus, since the length of this loop isequivalent to a substantial portion of the total vertical travel of thegriff element 25, the yarn end 32 is raised only a portion of the totalvertical travel of the heddle 29. But, it will be noted, the yarn end 32has been raised sufficiently for a pick 34 of the upper filling layer topass therebeneath with the wire 33 passing over the yarn. Thus, the yarnend 32 is said to fioat over the pick of the upper lling layer so as toavoid any open spaces in the face of the fabric. Then when the griffelements 25 move downwardly again and the cylinder 22 moves away fromthe index card, the springs 35 act on the needles 24 so as to place thehooks 26 over the griff element in readiness for the next weavingoperation.

As an important feature of the present invention, the operations shownin Figs. 11-13 can be carried out in only one indexing per cycle of thejacquard mechanism. Ordinarily, two indexings are required per cycle ofoperation to produce both pile loops and fioats above the upper fillinglayer, which, of course, requires twice as many index cards and consumesmore time. By the present invention, the hooks 26 and 28 of the jacquardfor forming the pile loops and floats above the upper filling layer arecontrolled so as to operate simultaneously at the same indexing, theindex cards being cut accordingly for this purpose. To accomplish this,the griff and the grate 45 of the conventional jacquard mechanism areseparately controlled so as to move independently toward each other fromtheir uppermost and lowermost positions, respectively, and the yarnscarried thereby meet for indexing at the level of the table of the loom,whereupon the jacquard is indexed in contrast to the usual method ofmoving downwardly together and indexing at the lowermost position of thegriff and grate below the table 20 of the loom. Thus, as showndiagrammatically in Fig. 14, the griff yarn 36 and grate yarn 37 arecontrolled in their vertical movement so as to approach each othersimultaneously, whereby the yarns thereof meet for indexing at the tableT, and then separating and returning to their respective upward anddownward positions so that wires and picks may be inserted. The hooks 26and 28 selected by the index card for forming pile loops travel upwardlywith the griff on its return, carrying the heddles 27 and 29 and yarnends 32upwardly, as shown in Fig. 12 and as described above. At the sametime, all the float hooks 28 selected by the index card for producingfloats above'theupper filling layer likewise travel upwardly with thegriff on its return, carrying the float heddle 29 and yarn ends 32 withthem, but the yarn ends 32 controlled by said hooks will not rise to thesame height as the yarn for the pile loops due to the manner in which itis threaded through the elongated loop 31 of the heddle, as describedabove. The position of the floated yarn end is indicated at 38 in Fig.14, a wire 33 being shown thereabove and a pick 34 therebeneath.

Thus, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, each yarn end 32 is controlled by twosets of hooks and heddles so that either set may be selected for formingpile loops or floats, as desired. Each heddle 27 and 29 has a hook 46which cooperates with the grate 4S.

All hooks that are not selected for producing pile loops or iioats overthe upper filling layer pass downwardly with the grate in theconventional manner, so that the yarn controlled thereby is tied inbeneath the picks of the upper filling layer; that is, between the picksof the upper filling layer and those of the lower filling layer alongwith the stuffer warp.

By the method for controlling the yarn ends described above, index cardsmay be cut so that a given yarn end may be made to produce pile loops orfloats above the Cil *d upper filling layer, so as to leave no openspaces in the face of the fabric.

It is to be noted that if the indexing were carried out at the lowermostlevel of the grate, as is customarily done, it would be impossible toproduce both pile loops and floats above the upper filling layer in oneindexing per cycle using conventional index cards, hooks, and heddles,as contemplated by the present invention, because the float hooks wouldraise the yarn only to a level below the table T of the loom, as shownat 39 in Fig. 14, which would result in the yarn being bound in beneathpick 34 ot' the upper filling layer, leaving the undesirable open spaceswhich the present invention is designed to overcome. Thus, two indexingswould be required per cycle, one indexing to produce the pile loops andone indexing to produce the desiredlioats. require twice the number ofindex cards as required by the present invention, and would consume moreoperating time.

It is to be emphasized at this point, therefore, that it is only byseparately land independently controlling the jacquard griff and grateso as to index at the table of the loom, in accordance with the teachingof the present invention, that the lsimultaneous provision of pile loopsand floats above the upper filling layer may be accomplished with theconventional jacquard using conventional hooks and heddles.

As stated earlier in the specification, the present method can becarried ont with two or more warp yarns, selectively raising yarn endsto form pile loops and selectively oating the yarn ends so as to passover the picks of the upper filling layer, eliminating open spaces inthe face of thefabric. Thus, by selectively raising the yarn ends topass over one or more pile wires and by selectively floating the yarnends as desired, a pattern effect may be achieved. And by the presentmethod, this may be accomplished simply, with the existing jacquardmechanism and with only one indexing per cycle, by the simple expedientof independently controlling the movement of the jacquard griff andgrate so as to index at the level of the table of the loom.

Reference is made in the foregoing specification to the grifIr and gratemeeting at the level of the table. What is meant by this is that theyarn of the griff and the yarn of the grate meet at the level of thetable rather than these loom elements themselves.

Although the present discussion has been limited to the above-describedpreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that variations thereof arepossible without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is notintended, therefore, that this invention be limited to the particularembodiment disclosed, but only to the inventive concept as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops -and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises indexing at the table of the loom so as to select yarnends for producing pile loops and fioats above the upper filling layer,raising the selected yarn ends to different heights above the table ofthe loom for producing pile loops and floats above the upper fillinglayer, inserting pile wires beneath the higher yarn ends but above thelower yarn ends, and inserting upper picks beneath the lower yarn ends.

2. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops and fioats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises lowering the griff and raising the grate simultaneouslyso as to meet at the table of the loom, indexing at the table of theloom so as to select yarn ends for producing pile loops and floats abovethe upper filling layer, raising the griff and lowering the grate, thesaid Needless to say, this would l griff -raising lthe selected yarnends to different heights for producing the pile loops and floats abovethe upper filling layer, inserting pile wires beneath the higher yarnends but above the lower yarn ends, and inserting upper picks beneaththe lower yarn ends.

3. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises independently lowering the griff and independentlyraising the grate so as to meet at the table of the loom, indexing atthe table of the loom so as to select yarn ends for producing pile loopsand oats above the upper filling layer, raising the griff and loweringthe grate, the said griff raising the selected yarn ends to differentheights above the table of the loom for producing pile loops and floatsabove the upper filling layer, inserting pile wires beneath the higheryarn 'ends but above the lower yarn ends, and inserting upper picksbeneath the lower yarn ends.

4. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises, threading each yarn end through both a pile heddle anda float heddle, indexing at 'the table lof the loom so as to select pileheddlesvand oat heddles for producing pile loops and floats above theupper filling layer, raising the selected heddles to different heightsabove the table of the loom, the float heddles lying below the pileheddles, inserting pile wires beneath the higher yarn ends but above thelower yarn ends, and inserting upperpicks beneath the lower yarn ends.

5. In the Weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile lloops and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexingper cycle of operation of the jacquard whichcomprises, suspending pile heddles and float Yheddles from the griff ofthe jacquard, threading yarn ends through both 'a pile heddle and afloatheddle, lowering the griff and raising the grate of the .jacquardsimultaneously, indexing as the griff and grate meet at the table of theloom so as to select pile heddles and float heddles for producing `pileloops and o'ats above the upper filling layer, raising the griff so asto raise the selected heddles and yarn ends while lowering the grate atthe same time, the pile heddles raising the yarn ends to a greaterheight than the oat heddles, inserting pile wires beneath the higheryarn ends but above the lower yarn ends, and inserting upper picksbeneath the -lower yarn ends.

6. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises, suspending pile heddles and float heddles from thegriff of the jacquard, threading yarn ends through the eye of the pileheddle and through the elongated loop of the float heddle, lowering thegriff `and raising the grate of the jacquard simultaneously, indexing asthe griff and grate meet at the table of the loom so as to select pileheddles and float heddles for producing pile loops and oats above theupper filling layer, raising the griff so as to raise the selectedheddles and yarn ends above the table of the loom while lowering thegrate at the same time, the pile heddles raising the yarn ends to agreater height than the float heddles, inserting pile wires beneath thehigher yarn ends but above the lower yarn ends, and inserting upperpicks beneath the lower yarn ends.

7. In the weaving of pile fabric by means of a loom having a jacquard,the method for producing pile loops and floats above the upper fillinglayer with only one indexing per cycle of operation of the jacquardwhich comprises, indexing at the table of the loom so as to select yarnends for producing pile loops and floats above the upper filling layer,raising the selected yarn ends to different heights above the table ofthe loom, inserting a pile wire and an upper pick beneath the higheryarn ends, beating up the said pile wire and `upper pick into the fabricbody, inserting a lower pick beneath the same higher yarn ends, beatingup said lower pick, inserting an upper pick beneath the lower yarn ends,beating up said upper pick, inserting a lower pick beneath said loweryarn ends, and beating up said lower pick into the fabric body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS498,912 Evans June 6, 1893 760,985 Hardwick May 24, 1904 760,986Hardwick May 24, 1904 2,553,303 Crawford May 15, 1951 2,681,083 DaceyJune 15, 1954 2,685,894 Parlin Aug. 10, .1954 2,750,964 Hoeselbarth June19, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 469,013 Great Britain July 14, 1937 814,846France June 30, 1937 916,349 France Dec. 3, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES Woolenand Worsted Cam Looms, etc., Scranton, Pa.: International Library ofTechnology, 1906.

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